Improvement in brick and tile machines



2 Sheets-Sheet 1i F. KENNEDY.

' BRICK AND TILE MACHINE. NO. I

Patented. Sept. 26,1876.

NPETERS. PHOTO L THDGRA ZSheetsSheet-Z. FPJ. KENNEDY. BRICK AND TILEMACHINE.

NQ.18Z,676, Patented Sept. 26,1876.

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FRANCIS J. KENNEDY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRICK AND'TI LE MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 182,676, datedSeptember 26, 1876 application filed August 17, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS J. KENNEDY, of Brooklyn, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Brick and Tile Machine, which improvement is fully set forth in thefollowing specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Figure 1 represents a horizontal section in the planem m, Fig. 3; Fig. 2 is a plan or top view. Fig.3 is a vertical sectionin the plane y y, Fig. 1.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to certain improvements on that class of brickand tile machines which are described in Letters Patent granted to H. L.Huntington, December 15, 1874, No. 157,831, and which consists,essentially, of a series of press-boxes, which radiate from the axis ofthe tempering-shaft below the bottom of the tempering-tub, and which areprovided with suitable throats, through which the clay is forced out,said bottom being provided with apertures through which the temperedclay is successively forced into the press-boxes by means of aspiralwiper on the tempering-shaft.

My improvement consists in the combination, with the spiral wiper, theradiating pressboxes, and the apertures leading from thetempering-tubinto said press-boxes, ofa coveringplate mounted on thetempering-shaft, and so arranged that it covers the apertures leadinginto each press-box during the time the follower of said press-box isforced outward, whereby the clay is prevented from being forced out ofthe press-boxes during the operation of pressing.

The followers of the press-boxes, which are situated diametricallyopposite to each other, are connected by rodsthe central portions ofwhich form cam-shaped cages, situated one above the other. InHuntingtons machine a common wrist-pin, secured in a crank which ismounted on the tempering-shaft, acts on said cam-shaped cages, andimparts to the followers the desired reciprocating motion. This crankpinis armed with an anti-friction roller, but during a certain portionofits movement this anti-friction roller acts on two or more of thecages at the same time, and, by its action on one cage, it would'beturned in one direction,

while by its action on the other cage beneath the first said rollerwould be turned'in the opposite direction. The consequence of thisarrangement is, that the anti-friction roller remains stationary, thebearing-surfaces are subjected to undue wear, and the power required foroperating the machine is unnecessarily increased. This difficulty I haveovercome by employing different anti-friction rollers mounted on thesame, or on difi'erent crank-pins, so that each anti-friction roller canturn inde pendent of the other, and thereby the wear of the workingparts of my machine is materially reduced, and its operation is greatlyfacilitated. With the radiating press-boxes I have combinedroller-platforms for receiving the compressed clay which issues fromsaid press boxes, and in the side rails of these platforms are slots orholes for the reception of hinged cutters, so that said cutters can beadjusted at any desired distance apart, and either in a square or in anoblique position, and the compressed clay issuing from the press-boxescan be cut up into sections of any desired length and shape.

' In the drawing, the letter A designates the tempering-tub, through thecenter of which rises the shaft B, which receives a rotating motion byany suitable mechanism. In. the bottom of the tempering-tub are a seriesof apertures, a a, which lead down into the pressboxes 0 O, situatedbelow said bottom, and extending in radial directions from thetempering-tub. In the example represented in the drawingfour press-boxesare shown, which are arranged in pairs, each pair consisting of twoboxes, situated diametrically opposite to each other, but the number ofpress-boxes may be increased to six or more, if desired. 0n the shaft B,close above the bottom of the tempering-tub, is mounted a spiral bladeor Wiper, D; and, as the shaft revolves, this wiper forces the clay fromthe tempering-tub successively down through the apertures a a, into thepressboxes 0 0. With this spiral wiperis combined a covering-plate, E,which may be made solid with or separate from said wiper and which isfirmly secured on the shaft B in such a position that it covers each ofthe apertures a during the time the follower in the correspondingpress-box is forced outward. Bythis arrangement one-and the samecovering-plate prevents the discharge back into the temperingtub fromevery one of the press-boxes, and the mechanism of the machine issimplified. Each of the press-boxes is fitted with a follower, F, (seeFig. 1,) and the followers of each pair of press-boxes are connected toeach other by rods G G, the middle portions of which form cam-shapedcages H H, embracing the shaft B. On this shaft is mounted a crank, I,the wrist-pin of which is armed with two antifriction rollers, b b, onesituated above the other, (see Fig. 3,) the anti-friction roller b beingso situated that it acts on the, cage, H, while the anti-frictionroller 1) acts on the cage H. As the shaft B rotates a reciprocatingmotion is imparted to the followers, and the operation of pressing iseffected.

By referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing it will be seen that during acertain portion of the motion the roller b, by contact with theworking-face of the cage H, revolves in the direction of the arrowmarked on said roller, while at the same time the roller b, by contactwith the working-face of the cage H, revolves in the direction oppositeto said arrow. It is therefore essential that said rollers b I) shall bemade detached, one from the other for, if one and the same anti-frictionroller is caused to act simultaneouslyon both cages H H, said roller isprevented'from turning round during a certain stage ofits motion, theresult being an undue wear of the working parts, and a waste of power.The working faces of the cages H H are protected by shoes 0 c, which,when worn out, can be replaced by others without disturbing theremaining portions of the machine. In the example shown in the drawingthe anti-friction rollers 11 b are mounted on one and the same crank-pinbut they may be secured on different ordetached crankpins withoutdeviating from my improvement. Outside of each of the press-boxes issituated a roller-platform, J, and the compressed clay,

on issuing from the mouths of the several press-boxes, is deposited on,and supported by, said platforms, where the same is cut up into sectionsof the desired length. In the side rails of the platforms J are slots01, (or aseries of holes may be substituted for said slots,) and inthese slots are fitted the screw-shanks of standards 6, which form thebearings for the fulcrum-pins f of the cutter-frames K. By thisarrangement the cutter-frames can be readily adjusted at any desireddistance apart, either in a rectangular or in an oblique position, andthe compressed clay can be cut up in sections of any desired length,with square or oblique ends.

I distinctly disclaim everything shown and described in the above-namedpatent of Huntington, of which I am part owner.

What I claim as new, and desire to see re by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of radiating press-boxes C O, followers F, arrangedtherein, the tempering-tub A, having apertures 11. in its bottom,through which the clayis supplied to the pressboxes, its vertical shaftB, and the spiral wiper D, having at its lower end a plate, E, the wholeconstructed to operate as and for the object set forth.

2. The combination of detached anti-friction rollers b I), with thecages H H, followers F,

and press-boxes O O, substantially as and for the purpose described.

F. J. KENNEDY. [1... s.] 'Witnesses:

W. HAUFF, E. F. KASTENHUBER.

